A 78-year-old senior stood at the gate of an exam site, carrying a camera to record scenes of the gaokao on June 7 in Jilin province.

He said for the past 11 years he has gone to exam sites every year during the gaokao period and taken photos of the students, parents, and everyone involved in the big event.

He is Li Shengtian, and has taken more than 20,000 pictures related to the gaokao in Jilin to record its development and changes.

Li Shengtian takes photos outside an exam site. [Photo/chinajilin.com.cn]

Li used to be a researcher at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and has been concerned about education development in China.

Whenever he saw the young examinees, Li can't help but think of his gaokao experience 58 years ago.

"It was totally different from now and I went to the exam site by myself -- no parents waiting or policemen keeping order. As there were not so many people attending the exam, I didn't have any pressure," Li said.

Education in Jilin province has developed rapidly in the past 58 years.

"The gaokao has become more and more serious and scientific," Li said. "A better gaokao system shows better education, which can help promote the population quality in China."